Hechlingen, June 2001-Broken DHP Rallye
I showed up to Hechlingen with my new rallye bike eager to test it out. I was looking forward to getting used to the very high ground clearance and seeing whether I could improve my balance and handling enough to be able to ride this bike in races. At first when I got to the training ground it was strange because everybody wanted to see the bike and I wanted to concentrate on my riding. Not looking to embarrass myself I decided to start out the training using the GS Dakar that I had rented for the session.
However, after about 1 hour of exercises I could wait no longer. I rode back to the staging area and reappeared on the Rallye bike. Of course I was a bit too anxious and knew that I would get in trouble because the ground clearance is very high making my getting a foot down difficult. This was especially compounded because we were riding in a group and people would often get into trouble necessitating stops in the strangest of places.
I did check out the jumping capability of the bike and especially enjoyed a small ramp near the paddock where you could get about 5-10 feet of air. On the second day I wound up breaking the bike in several areas due to two "get-offs" and two dropped bikes when doing uphill stops. (my feet don't reach and the bike just falls).
I broke the left fuel tank (expensive) and bent the cockpit center post. The few photos I took detail some of the damage. Oh, well. If you're going to ride and race it you've got to know what breaks and how to fix it.
Note - If you want to see/get any photo in true (larger) original format just click (or right click) the image.
Photo - Bent center post
A fellow rider noticed my cockpit skewed to the left. I argued for a while then
acquiesed when he
pointed out that I had tweaked the center post. This happens when you slam the
nose of the bike
into a ditch after launching over a hill climb. Remember kids, if you can't see
what's on the other
side you may get bit. This downing was more pride and $ than injury.
Photo - Cracked inside fuel tank mount
The white bar is the rail for the front fuel tank. The center disc is part of
the mounting
apparatus along with a rubber bushing. this is from the right tank.
Apparently after dropping the bike a few times on the right (hard) I cracked the
disc.
Photo - Left inside fuel mount
This is just a picture (sideways) of the left inside fuel mount taken for
comparison.
This mount was intact but I cracked the bottom edge of the fuel tank open on a
rock
spilling out gas all over the place. In these instances you disconnect the front
fuel tank lines and ride on.